A Really Good Mail Day

Today was a really good mail day! First, I got my mom's book in the round robin we are doing. Second ,I got the Walk Away The Pound DVD's I ordered from ebay. This is good and bad as it now gives me no reason not to exercise. This is my favorite exercises tape. I lent my first set to someone at Weight Watchers who left the group and never returned. I've been outing about it for a good two years now but it was time to replace them.


Third, I got my tape order from Japan with Love. OOOOH!



Finally, I got my earrings from Curly Girl Glass. I've been admiring these earrings for months and finally decided to get them. I am in serious trouble as they are way cooler in person than they were on etsy and they were amazing there. Now I am eyeing a few of these sellers funky rings. You should check her shop out!

This Weekends Art Adventures

First, I promised I 'd share my Things With Wings chunky book. I bound my book this morning as a trial run to be sure I could explain the Zutter to Ayesha. This book is an itty bitty book, only 3" x 3". I have to point out one of my favorite pages. This page was made by Jake. Jake is only 10 and saw his mom, Kristine, making the covers and pages for the swap and decided that he'd like to make a page too. His mom said that they could just be a bonus page. My mom, who was the swap hostess, insisted that he get a book of his own and boy, is it well deserved! I hope Jake keeps at his art!


Also, I woke up at 1:45 this morning wanting to work in my journal. I have not made time to work in it in a very long time. Knowing that it was Sunday I figured I could sleep later so I set to work. Here's what I came up with.

Good Mail & Shopping Days

I received both my Junk Drawer swap and an Amazon order in the mail late this week. I was happy with the Junk Drawer swap. It was a tiny swap of only 7 people but most of the pages had a wow factor and all were well done.


My Amazon Order contained Riceboy Sleeps and The Book Book: A Journey Into Bookmaking. I had to buy Riceboy Sleeps after reading about it on Kelly's Blog. I knew I would like it because of the recommendation but what surprised me was the adorable notebook type size of the book and the wonderful texture of the cover. I learned about The Book Book in a catalogue that I was ordering supplies for work from and knew I would need it. If you are teaching writing or art to children or just want to be inspired by the great collage illustrations this book is for you! I read it cover to cover as soon as I took it out of its packaging!


I ventured to Frenzy Stamper today for the Things With Wings swap. I was trying to be on my best behavior because I knew I would be back again on Friday and Saturday taking classes with Kelly and that means a 15% discount this weekend. (You should sign up for a class with Kelly and get your discount too!) I did pick up the latest edition of Artful Blogging & some black divider cards for my ATC spinner- I am sure these will be sold out by Friday, as well as some binding combs to bind my Things With Wings pages. (More on this little book tomorrow.)


My mom took Ayesha and I to lunch at a cute little restaurant called the Food Bar next to Frenzy (Yum!) and then we ventured to The Paper Studio. I don't get to the Paper Studio often, mostly because I find myself in enough trouble at Frenzy (the kind of trouble I like to be in), but Ayesha asked why we'd never been so we had to take her! ***I need to interject her that I am so thrilled that Ayesha is investigating art on her own and can already ask why we've never been shopping at certain stores and is introducing me to new product lines!*** I found all kinds of goodies! A 7gypsies punch, transparent ABC cards for my ATC spinner, stickers, rub--ons, waxed linen, glimmer screens, and a new Heidi Swap mask. I also found one gorgeous piece of paper who yelled out, "I love you" as I passed buy even though I was trying not to look at the beautiful papers. If you are planning on going to The Paper Studio soon plan for trouble! (Kelly, this means you!)

Cartwright Young Artist Exhivbition

The Art show is on display and the kids are so excited! All of the winners have been announced, ribbons are starting to be handed out, & the first place & best of show winners have their invitations to the awards presentation. Here's a look at my kids work.

2-D


3-D

I Almost Forgot...

I meant to give a shout out to Tyler, who occasionally reads my blog, for two reasons. 1) He asked Ayesha to wish me a happy pseudo wedding day yesterday making him the only boy who actually humored us in this endeavor. 2) He found a Michigan State Spartan double shot glass for Ayesha so she could give it to JIm. This is especially impressive because he went to to Michigan. Jim (ASU Sundevil) would rather be burnt alive than buy any UofA item. Really, just ask him.

Tuesday Night Wedding

Wondering why I am posting at 6:30 on a school day? Well, this morning when I went to leave for work I closed my car door and it made a crunching sound. I rolled down the window on the driver's side and the window fell and will not roll back up. (I have been being very delicate with a crunching sound on the passenger side for weeks now. Never buy a VW, I repeat never buy a VW!) As you can imagine leaving your car window down all day at work is a bit worrisome. Luckily Deb lives about 10 second from my house. and will be picking me up shortly.


Anyway on to happy things. The wedding was a great hit. Deb, Ayesha, and I went to pick up Chinese food at a place near my house. When the girls cam in I had my wedding shadow box, guestbook, programs, bouquet (They were made from metal), and favors ready and waiting! I had even ordered a cake like we had for centerpieces at the wedding. We had a great time watching the wedding video and looking through my photo album. It's fun to be cheesy!

How Sarah and Clorox Saved The Day

Okay so this title may be a bit dramatic but that's my style!

I teach art with anywhere from 150 (on early release days) to 200 students passing through my room each day. Add to that my love of messy fingers and I present to you BEFORE...



I know, its disgusting. I was in Sarah's room today when I commented on how beautiful her laptop looked and she said, "Do you need some wipes? I have some I can share." I know this seems like a simple gesture but I was so excited!
We had been told when we received our laptops that special computer wipes would be kept on hand but every time I pick one up they have been terribly dry and do about as much good as a school issued facial tissue.
Anyway, Sarah pulled out your regular old variety Clorox Wipes. I was shocked! With Sarah being one of the computer goddesses at our school I knew they were safe. Now I present to you AFTER...



I actually bought my own container on my way home from school and now as I type this I realize a Clorox Wipe will be my next stop at home too!

If you want to see adorable kids in the studio visit my school blog!

Art Unraveled Chunky Book

I finished my pages for the Art Unraveled chunky book swap this morning. The topic was discover your muse to go along with this years theme. The back says, "I find my muse by:
• reading books, blogs, & magazines
• experimenting with art materials & tools
• looking at my favorite images such as birds, skulls, & flourishes
• observing the world around me
• spending time creating art with children"

Tape And Stickers

My tape and stickers arrived today from Japan With Love, an etsy seller. They accidentally sent me one roll that I did not order. I went back to their site to see if they still had the correct kind still in stock. This was a mistake! Now their are more rolls I think I need! I should have just waited for an email. I LOVE the cute little elephant stickers on the left!

I have been working on getting things ready for next Tuesday both at school and at home.

At School I will be setting up the Young Artist Exhibit on Tuesday. This is the big art event of the year for our school district. All 20 schools set up a six sided panel of 2-D artwork as well as a large table of 3-D Artwork at Desert Sky Mall. (This is the mall that is closest to our students.) Over 60 students will be on display from Davidson. It is exciting for the kids to be selected and they wait anxiously to find out who won ribbons! If you are out on the West side and you enjoy student artwork it is definitely worth the trip. The exhibit will be up from the evening of April 22- May 6. (Or you can just wait anxiously and I will post photos of my kids work.)

At home I will be hosting my wedding revisited! Jim really does not get this at all! Ayesha and Deb were wishing they could have been at my wedding (we didn't know each other then) and we decided we needed to revisit the event! I made revised versions of my wedding invitation, we are planning on ordering Chinese food to recreate the catering, we will watch the wedding video, and I have lots of other surprises that I can't reveal until Tuesday. The girls even said they were going to wear black dresses to be like my bridesmaids. Again, Jim thinks I am crazy and I am so excited!

Shopping Frenzy!

Just a bit of shopping at Frenzy today before the ATC swap. Debbie had some of the new Coffee Break Design Stencils that I wanted(more new designs are on their way!). New 7 Gypsies ATC goodies & mini paper clips. Finally, Frame Tape from Around the Block. Kelly told Debbie to buy it so clearly I needed it too!


Have I mentioned that Kelly is coming? KELLY'S COMING. KELLY'S COMING! I got to sign up for classes and you can & should too! She will be here on Friday, May 2-Sunday, May 4th lots of cool classes. Check them out!

More SASE Finally!

Two important people sent me SASE and I have taken forever to post them! The first is from Steve. Steve was my teaching partner from 6th grade who moved to Idaho to become a tree farmer, although he still teaches too. He's multi talented! He sent me his plane itinerary for a trip to buy trees in Oregon, pictures from home, a copy of his last passport photo, his business card, and an empty gift card from his son, Adam. I miss Steve.


I also got a really nice love note from Ayesha along with a bird and a beer label sticker. If you read my blog you know who Ayesha is. If not get to reading:) She wrote the love not in silver pen so it is hard to read so here goes:
Reasons I heart you:
1. You are cheesy and proud.
2. Your art is inspiring and you love sharing your inspiration and talent.
3. We were fast friends and it flows so easily (like friendship should).
4. Tuesday night dinners (or church)
5. Cutest brown and white nieces
6. Art Journal Club AKA writing intervention
7. Jim & Jeane. Need I say more?
8. Yay! or Yeah?
9. You are passionate and always speak up!
10. Born to teach theory
So many more-thanks for being you!


See, how could I not love Ayesha? Speaking of the count down is on!

Animal Atc Swap

Tomorrow is my monthly ATC swap at Frenzy Stamper. The topic... animals. This topic was difficult for me. Although I have had animals all my life and I definitely consider my self a pet lover the topic in general doesn't give me great inspiration.

You might be thinking why not birds Jeane? You love birds and they are all the rage. I did consider it but having just done birds for my things with wings chunky book swap I thought I should try to go for the less obvious.

While brainstorming with Ayesha a few days ago I mentioned the idea of an elephant when she suggested a decorated, Indian elephant and inspiration was born.
I found a great decorated elephant online. Next I used acrylic paint, a henna stencil, and a Neoart water-soluable wax pastel to create the background. (An idea I had been wanting to try out after I saw it in Kelly Kilmer's art journal the last time she was in AZ.) A little collage paper and glue stick later and my ATC's came to life!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Everything has been so busy I feel like I am in a whirled wind. This morning the alarm went off as usual. I got Jim ready and off to work, got ready myself, ate breakfast, took the dogs out and put them in their kennels for the day got in my car. Everything as usual until I looked at my clock again and remembered that Jim went in to work one hour earlier today than usual. He told me last night as we were going to bed but it somehow did not sink in. Instead it just became part of the storm.

This week has been a little crazy with 2nd through 5th graders doing state testing and Kinder and 1st doing district assessments. All of my normal jobs at work have been changed to help facilitate the testing. I took the role of a 2nd grade teacher in administering the test in the morning, (The regular classroom teacher is out on Maternity leave.) And in the afternoon I have been helping in a fourth grade room. With 2nd grade testing complete I can't even remember what my schedule looks like for today. I will soon find out. :)


We did have Girl's Night out as usual on Tuesday which was nice. First Amber joined. Second Deb though it was only right to have a tailgate party for Ayesha's birthday. Her real Birthday will be next Tuesday and her Michigan roommates will be in town so the only way to surprise her was to do it a week early. We had party favors, a silly hat, and a I crafted a little birthday count down. We went to dinner at Which Which in Westgate. (Which Which = which sandwhich, Westgate = the area outside of the new football arena) It was the perfect place for a tail gate + Ayesha loves to tail gate! We ended up hanging out in several locations before we left and it turned out to be a nice break in the week.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity, Jiggity, Jig

Laughlin was a blast! I had so much fun I actually completely forgot about work for an entire day and a half. This is a huge feet the weekend before AIMS testing.

If you are ever find yourself in Laughlin you should definitely eat at the Hickory Pit in the Edgewater Casino! This is where we went for Jim's birthday dinner. While we were waiting to be seated we watched a guy select two lobsters from a tank to have for dinner. Not one but both of the lobsters tried to escape. The first one was trying to crawl off the aquarium lid while the second was being caught, and the second one actually jumped off of the tray the waitress was carrying them on. The first one also followed suit and tried to jump but the waitress caught him on the way down. I'm not sure where they though they was going but it was an escape attempt none the less.


As an added bonus there was the cutest little shop across from the Hickory pit where I bought the cutest little purse. I am always looking for a cute little purse for dressy occasions. I can't wait to use this one next weekend for a wedding Jim and I will be going to next weekend.

I received two envelopes late last week I will post them soon.

Jims's Birthday

I didn't want to go MIA for an entire weekend. Just a short post to say Jim and I are away in Laughlin for his birthday! We are having a ball so far. We arrived at about 7 p.m. checked into our hotel, grabbed dinner, and played Pia Gow Poker until 4 a.m. After a little snack we were off to bed and now we are ready to head out again! Just for the record waiting an hour to be seated for dinner is so much more palatable when you can gamble while you wait!

Baby Shower Projects

It is now safe to reveal the baby shower projects that I was working on last weekend. I dared not do it before because you never know who will be reading your blog. :)



First, I made a little brag book for Kelly and little T in the colors of their nursery. I don't make this sort of thing for anyone just for those people I know will appreciate it. One of our friends, Sara, had bought a little book from me for Kelly a couple of years ago for her dogs and she loved it so much she just had to have one for her little guy.


Also, Deb and I teamed up to make this great diaper cake for the shower center piece. It was much easier than we thought it would be and it was a great hit!